Church must confront this clash of convictions

I have worshipped God in Anglican churches in places as remote
from each other as Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile,
Darwin, Cape Town, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Oxford, Washington
and Vancouver. I could visit many more places, in Europe, Asia, the
Middle East and elsewhere. In all there is a family resemblance
stemming from origin, relationships, teaching and practice.

These churches are in communion with each other. As an Anglican
clergyman, I was welcome to minister with few questions asked.

In a world of division, great international movements such as
churches are precious reminders that we all belong to the same
human race. Through them, people from around the world care for
each other in practical and effective ways. Christians are world
citizens. Unity matters.

On the other hand, the church is not infinitely flexible. It
cannot be, if it is to be true to its calling. It has a task to
bear witness to the truth that is in Jesus Christ. There are
boundaries to that truth, and hence boundaries to the Christian
fellowship.

Christians sometimes have to decide that the truth of some major
issue does not permit them to have unity with each other in the
same way as before. We must be welcoming, but we cannot embrace
indifference about doctrine and hope to survive.

The world-wide Anglican Communion is struggling with the issue
of human sexuality. Despite the pleas of other Anglicans from
around the world, the United States church consecrated as a bishop
a practising homosexual.

Very significant numbers of Anglicans regard this as a clear
violation of the Bible. They have, therefore, a broken relationship
with those who have taken this step.

This has made life very awkward for the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. He has some immensely hard decisions
to make involving questions of relationship. Who still belongs to
the Anglican Communion?

Williams is also troubled by developments in England involving
the same issues. For the Archbishop, with the Lambeth Conference
looming in 2008, a time of crisis is at hand. He has to decide whom
to invite.

In a few days, the primates of the Anglican Communion will meet
in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The largest churches are in the
southern hemisphere. There is a clear loss of patience with the
Americans and their allies. Decisions may have been taken by some
leading members of the group not to have fellowship with the
Americans.

Indeed, various parishes in the US have already joined overseas
dioceses, rather than remain in the American church, and the
Nigerians have set up a branch of their numerically powerful church
in the US. Considerable pain is being experienced, and it may well
get worse as Anglicans rearrange their relationships.

Bishop Katharine Schori, the new presiding bishop of the
American church, will be present at the invitation of Williams.
There is doubt about the welcome she will receive from a number of
the primates.

To them, she represents a church which has broken the boundaries
needed to hold the communion together. Whether the American
convictions prove to be prophetic and true, or wilful and badly
mistaken, they have chosen to follow them to the end. They cannot
be surprised that this will cause turbulence in the communion. They
had more than sufficient warning over the years.

Already Anglicans are not as welcoming of each other as we have
been in the past. In a world where truth is often regarded as no
more than opinion, this is a struggle over important matters of
principle. The Americans have clearly voted for the truth of their
convictions over unity, although they would like both. The same
thing applies to those who are opposed to them.

But this is not without hope. We are seeing not a mere power
struggle but the clash of deeply held convictions.

It is not unchristian to have serious disagreement over truth.
But here is a biblical command for us all: speak the truth with
love.

Can Anglicans continue to witness to the truth and also love
those with whom we differ so significantly? If so, perhaps one day
we will see unity restored.

The Dar es Salaam meetings may well clarify the way ahead for
Anglicans.